Who Says You Can't Go Home Again?

For 27 years, former Countrywide Financial Corp. President Stanford Kurland made a fortune helping to build a mortgage-lending empire.

Now, as parts of the mortgage market collapse, Mr. Kurland and some former colleagues have a new plan -- make another fortune on the way down.

On Monday, the group will announce the launch of Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company LLC, or PennyMac, an investment firm formed as a joint venture between asset manager BlackRock Inc., under Chief Executive Laurence Fink, and Boston investment firm Highfields Capital Management.

PennyMac seeks to raise more than $2 billion to buy distressed mortgages on ...